EU And Whose Army? By Benjamin Picton, senior market strategist at Rabobank Bonds and equities rallied on Friday and Brent crude prices fell by more than 1% as markets digested the details of a 28-point peace plan drafted by US and Russian officials. The most contentious elements of the plan are the recognition of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk as being de facto Russian, the requirement for Ukraine to reduce its armed forces to […]

Trump Set To Propose Framework To Halt “Surprise” Obamacare Price Hikes President Trump is expected to announce a general framework to address health care costs, and wants Congress to send a bill to his desk that would halt Affordable Care Act premium spikes, according to MS Now, citing two White House officials familiar with the plans.  US President Donald Trump arrives on the South Lawn of the White House on November 22, […]

Taiwan Center Stage In Trump-Xi Phone Call, As State Media Touts Island’s ‘Return To China’ At a moment US-ally Japan is in a rare full-blown diplomatic and (increasingly) military showdown with China, the country’s President Xi Jinping held a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Monday, both sides have confirmed. The last time the two leaders met and talked in detail, which was on the sidelines Asia-Pacific Economic […]

Key Events This Holiday-Shortened Week: PPI, Retail Sales, Jobless Claims, And Ukraine Ultimatum It should be another busy, holiday-shortened, week after a volatile one last week as markets whipsawed around big moves in Fed pricing and AI bubble risk fears. Before we get to Thanksgiving, DB’s Jim Reid writes that in the US, delayed post-shutdown data will be compressed into the first three days because of the holiday. Tomorrow […]

Bessent Says Americans To See ‘Substantial Refunds’ Next Year, No Risk Of Recession Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Nov. 23 said the government shutdown that ended earlier this month will not create a recession risk for the broader U.S. economy and that American families would see “substantial refunds” next year. In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Bessent […]

Europe’s Counter-Plan For Ukraine Peace Leaves Door Wide Open For NATO Admission Even as the Trump White House is busy in Europe trying to get NATO and EU states on board its 28-point peace plan which controversially demands the Ukrainian side cede territory, the Europeans have leaked their own counter-plan which proposes much less in the way of compromise with Russia. The UK, France, and Germany have put forward their own […]

Lutnick: Decision On Nvidia’s AI H200 Chip China Sales Now Sits On Trump’s Desk Building on last week’s Bloomberg report that White House officials are quietly discussing whether to let Nvidia sell its advanced H200 AI chips to China – a complete 180 from the previous administration – US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg TV earlier that the final decision to authorize those shipments now sits on President Trump’s […]

Spiraling Costs And A Broken Insurance Market – What Went Wrong With Obamacare Authored by Lawrence Wilson via The Epoch Times, The government shutdown might be over, but the political and financial problems that dog Obamacare haven’t gone away. Congress is now debating a second extension of the temporary tax credits that have shielded Obamacare users from rising costs for five years. Without the subsidies, Democrats say […]

Futures Rise As Bullish Sentiment Returns After Rollercoaster Week US equity futures are higher, but off their overnight highs, as the market looks to rebound from its worst week since early Oct; sentiment was lifted after shares of Alibaba jumped 4.7% in Hong Kong after a strong debut for its AI app; also boosting futs was a spike in December rate cut hopes and bullish comments from Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson. Still, […]

Two Investing Titans Issue The Same Warning Authored by Peter Reagan, When Ray Dalio and Jeff Gundlach – two legendary investors with wildly different worldviews – start warning about the same thing, it’s worth paying attention. Both say today’s economy is distorted, and warn that “illusory wealth” may vanish when reality hits… A question for you: In what world would billionaire investing legends Ray Dalio and […]

Novo Nordisk Plunges After Ozempic Pill Fails Alzheimer’s Trials – Shares Suffer Worst Year Ever Shares of Novo Nordisk in Copenhagen plunged the most in nearly four months after top-line results from a two-year analysis of the evoke and evoke+ Phase 3 trials, a pill version of Ozempic, showed the treatment failed to slow progression in early-stage symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. The studies, which enrolled 3,808 adults over two […]

BHP Scraps Anglo Takeover Attempt (Again) – UBS Raises Question: What’s Next? The world’s largest global diversified miner, BHP Group, has abandoned a renewed takeover approach for Anglo American, ending a brief effort to disrupt Anglo’s planned $60-billion merger with Canada’s Teck Resources. BHP confirmed earlier that it had held preliminary discussions with Anglo, but said it was now “no longer considering a combination of the […]

‘They Threw A Grenade – Now Feign Outrage’ – No Sympathy For TikTok Traitors Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) lit into Democrats Friday on Capitol Hill, blasting their viral video urging military mutiny against President Trump as a cynical “grenade” lobbed for clicks and clout—then dismissing their crocodile tears over Trump’s jail threats as “BS” with zero moral high ground. […]

College-Educated Oversupply Crisis Worsens  The widening mismatch between an oversupply of college-educated workers and a deepening shortage of talent for non-degree, hands-on jobs has grown even more pronounced. Bloomberg reports that the latest delayed BLS data shows a sharp deterioration in white-collar jobs, especially those holding four-year degrees, now making up a record 25% of all unemployed – or about 1.9 million folks, […]

FAA Prepared For Busiest Thanksgiving Travel In 15 Years Authored by T.J.Muscaro via The Epoch Times, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is preparing for the busiest Thanksgiving holiday travel period in 15 years. More than 360,000 flights are scheduled between Monday, Nov. 24, and Tuesday, Dec. 2, delivering people to and from their destinations across the country. Flights are set to peak on Nov. 25, with more than […]

Luxembourgers Are The World’s Biggest Coffee Drinkers The global coffee market continues to grow, but consumption patterns vary widely across countries. Northern European nations dominate the upper tiers, driven by a long-standing café culture and high per-capita spending. Meanwhile, large emerging markets drink far less per person despite being major producers. This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, ranks 65 […]

UK Greenlights First Rolls-Royce SMR Project Despite US Pushback Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com, UK selects Rolls-Royce as preferred SMR developer and launches its first project at Wylfa, aiming for mid-2030s power generation. The decision triggers criticism from the Trump administration, which pushed for U.S. firm Westinghouse to lead the project. Despite diplomatic friction, the UK says SMRs will […]

G20 In South Africa Ends With A Whimper After Trump Snubs Event South Africa is back in the news yet again, and facing embarrassment yet again.  South Africa’s far-left government was hoping that the G20 Summit held this week in Johannesburg would elevate the country’s global position and garner them international attention (and funding).  It is the first time in history that the G20 has been held in South Africa.     […]

Why’d Kazakhstan Join The Abraham Accords When It Already Recognizes Israel? Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack, Many observers were surprised after Kazakhstan joined the Abraham Accords during President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s trip to DC to attend the latest C5+1 Summit since it’s already recognized Israel since 1992. The Presidential and Foreign Ministry websites shed more light on this decision. The first […]

Taiwan Minister Says ‘Consensus’ Reached With US To Shield Chips From Tariffs Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Taiwanese National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen said that Taiwan and the United States have reached a “consensus” to keep tariffs off Taipei’s semiconductor industry. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Oct. 20, […]

Hamas Threatens ‘Ceasefire Is Over’ Amid Rising Israeli Airstrikes Hamas is threatening the collapse the US-backed ceasefire after a series of Israeli airstrikes and a rising death toll in Gaza over much of the past week. However, Israel’s military in fresh Sunday statements has said it is Hamas terrorists repeatedly violating the truce. “The agreement is over and [Hamas] is ready to fight,” Hamas sources have been cited in […]

MTA Hunts For $675 Million Worth Of Loose Change In Subway Seat Cushions Because the universe is nothing if not predictable, we’re back with yet another episode of “New York’s transit agency attempts first grade math.” The MTA has once again found itself rummaging through the sofa cushions of the nation’s largest transit network, searching for spare millions, according to Bloomberg. If it feels like we’re constantly […]

Geoengineering Is No Longer Just A Theory Authored by Mollie Engelhart via The Epoch Times, Most people check the weather the way they check traffic or the time. Rain might mean rearranging plans or canceling a child’s T-ball game. A cold snap might simply mean pulling out a sweater or your favorite tweed jacket. Weather, for most people, is an inconvenience or a conversation starter. Because when you need water, you turn on a […]

US State Department Designates “DEI” As A Violation Of Human Rights There is no way for a government to enforce Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies without also discriminating against certain groups of people.  DEI, by its very nature, is anti-merit, anti-success and pro-privilege.  Of course, the groups that are most commonly discriminated against under DEI quotas are mostly white, male and straight.  The assumption being […]

Restraint Technique That Supposedly Killed George Floyd Was Part Of Officer Training? Derek Chauvin’s defense attorneys have filed a new petition that challenges the 2021 murder conviction that sent Chauvin to prison over George Floyd’s death. The petition includes over 50 former and current MPD officers who made sworn declarations that the technique Chauvin used to restrain George Floyd was part of the official training they […]